Palmer Station & Paradise Bay, Antarctica

This morning we awoke to breathless seas and bright, sunny skies as all onboard the National Geographic Explorer were treated as guests of the United States Antarctic Program at Palmer Station. We toured the station learning about current scientific projects being conducted here in the Antarctic Peninsula, talked with staff and scientists alike about living conditions at the station, and even chatted over hot cocoa and freshly baked brownies about how beautiful life seemed to be here in Antarctica.

The afternoon began quietly enough, but as we headed into Paradise Bay the call came over the ship’s loudspeakers that there was a leopard seal chasing a gentoo penguin off the port bow. As the ship slowed and turned into a better viewing position, all on board could see the life-and-death struggle as the gentoo tried frantically to out swim and out maneuver the leopard seal. The penguin leapt out of the water with the seal close behind in hot pursuit. The dance between predator and prey was intense, but brief as the leopard seal snatched its meal between massive jaws and ended the chase.

But what to do now that it had the penguin? All those feathers make for a very nasty snack, so our leopard seal proceeded to remove those feathers with the only means at its disposal, to literally fling the penguin so hard that it came out of its own skin. Time after time the seal would grab the body with its teeth and swing it violently sideways through the water to skin it. Finally, with the skin (and feathers) now disposed of, the seal could eat its prize.

Just before dinner as we were leaving Paradise Bay the call once again came over the loudspeakers, this time for a sighting of killer whales. Almost 50 “Type B” killer whales were on both sides of the ship in beautiful afternoon light, surfacing among the icebergs. These killer whales usually specialize in the hunting and eating of seals among the ice, but as we excitedly watched, a group of younger animals chased, caught, and then ate a gentoo penguin right in front of us! Compared to the prize of a large seal, this penguin would of course only be an appetizer for the orca, but perhaps these younger animals were learning valuable hunting skills on smaller prey that can later be applied to fast-swimming seals.

Life here in Antarctica is hard. Other than over-wintering scientists like the ones we visited this morning, there are no terrestrial mammals that can live in these extreme conditions. To be a mammal, and to live in this environment, you must make your living on and in the sea. Today, this point was graphically illustrated to us all as we watched both a leopard seal and killer whales exploit one of the prey items available to them; gentoo penguins. An incredible finale played out before us on the last day of our expedition before starting our return to South America later tonight.